Btail-machiete



L, e a 1 ,2 ma N ww a: y@ T INN. .0 @N N WEI M1911# Ni 0 Q THE GRAPHICC0.PNOT0LITH.39&4I PARK PLAGE,N.Y.

` STATES ANT FFTCI.

DANIEL DODGE, OF KEESEVILLE, NEW YORK.

NAIL-MACHINE.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL DODGE, of Keeseville, in the county of Essexand State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Feeding andCutting-Off Apparatus for Wrought Nail and Spike Forging Ma.- chines;and I do hereby declare that the following is a. full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, is aplan of a wrought nail inachine with the upper or main shaft and itsappendages removed. Figs. 2 and 3, are vertical sections both taken verynearly in the same plane indicated by the red line x, m, in Fig. l, andshowing the principal working parts on both sides of such plane. Fig. 4,is a. partial transverse section of the inachine exhibiting a back viewof the cutters. Fig. 5, is a horizontal sectional View or part of themechanism for operating the gage.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

My invention consists in a gripper having t-he peculiar operationhereinafter described for the purposes of conveying the rod to theforging or pointing apparatus of a wrought nail machine, of holding itduring the forging or pointing operation and of conveying it to thecutters which cut off the nails or spikes after they have been forged orpointed.

It also consists in the combination of a gage and cutter or cutters withthe aforesaid gripper to operate substantially as hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and operation, but will firstexplain that though I have represented it applied in connection with acertain kind of forging or pointing machinery I do not consider it anymore especially adapted for use with that kind of forging or pointingmachinery than with any other, and therefore it will not be requisitefor me to refer particularly to any portion of that machinery, furtherthan is necessary to eX- plain my invention.

A, is the main framing of the nail Inachine.

a, o., are fixed horizontal ways on the said framing for the receptionof the slide B, which carries or constitutes a portion of the gripper,the said ways running in a direction to and from the forging or pointingapparatus C, D, E, F, G, H.

On the upper surface of the slider B, is a projection I), whichconstitutes the lower jaw of the gripper, the upper jaw o of which issecured by a clamping bolt c, to one end of a spring B, the other end ofwhich is bolted to the slides B, said spring being strong enough to givethe jaw b, the necessary pressure to grip the nail rod (which isrepresented .in red color in Figs. 1 and 2,) with the requisite degreeof tightness. By slackening the clamping bolt o, the aw b may beadjusted to grip a larger or smaller nail rod.

At the back of the ways a, o, and level with the face of the lower awI), there is a stationary rest (l, to support the part of the nail rodbehind the gripper on its way to the forging or pointing apparatus; andbehind this rest (l, and some distance in front of the forging orpointing apparatus there are two stationary cutters e, e, whose edgesare horizontal and about level with the face of the rest (Z, saidcutters being at a distance apart equal to the intended length of thenails, the cutter e, being for cutting the nails from the rod and thecutter e', for cutting any surplus metal from the points of the nails.The said cutters are so applied and secured by keys f, f, in a part A,of the framing and by a cla-mp X, to be capable of adjustment nearertogether or farther apart to cut nails of various lengths within certainlimits. Above the cutters f, j, are two adjustable cutters g, g, securedby clamping bolts 71 L, to the same arm I', of a horizontal rock shaftI, working in bearings on the top of the framing A, said .cutters beingintended to ooerate in combination with e, o', with a siiear like actionto cut off the nails. An arm I2, of the said rock shaft I, is connectedby a rod J, with a spring J, which operates to hold up the cutters g, g,to such an elevation as to allow the nail rod to pass freely under themuntil they are desired to have the requisite movement to effect thecutting operation, which is eected by the action on an arin I3, of

:he said rock shaft of a wiper K, on the iorizontal shaft K, from whichall parts of he feeding and cutting-off apparatus derive .heir action.

The shaft K, is arranged in suitable bearngs in the main framing A, andderives notion from the main shaft P, of the inachine at a greatlyreduced speed, through an intermediate shaft Q, and a train of spurgearing M, N, O. A cam K2, on the said shaft K, serves to impart areciprocating motion to the gripper in the ways a, a, through the agencyof a three armed rock shaft R, arranged in bearings in the lower part ofthe front of the' framing A, one arm R, of the said rock shaft, beingkept in contact with the said cam by means of a strong spring S,connected by a rod S', with its arm R2, and its third arm R3, beingconnected-with the slider B, which carries the whole of the gripper. Thereciprocating motion thus given to the gripper must be equal to thedistance between the position occupied by the finished nail in theforging or pointing apparatus and the position it must occupy over thecutter e, to be cut off. Another cam KS, on the said shaft K, serves toeffect the opening of the gripper by its action upon the arm T, of arocker T, which is arranged in bearings just below the ways a, a, andwhich has another arm T, projecting forward under a pin i, which isattached to the spring B, of the gripper and which projects downwardthrough an opening in the plate B. Another cam K4, upon the same shaftserves to operate the gage V.

The gage V, bestshown in Fig. l, consists of a bent horizontal armfitted to slide through the head of a vertical shaft W, which isarranged in a suitable bearing or bearings just behind the ways a, a,and on one side of the rest cl, and the path of the nail rod. The saidgage is secured to the head of the said shaft W, by a clamping bolt j,which on having its nut unscrewed permits the adjustment of the saidgage to regulate the feed of the rod. At the bottom of the said shaft W,there is an arm WV', which is held against the peripherical surface ofthe cam K4, as shown in Fig. 5, by means of a spring 71, (Fig. l)connected with it by a rod Z. The movement given to the gage is such asto place it across the path of the nail rod and withdraw it sidewisetherefrom at suitable intervals.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows z-At a certainstage inevery revolution of the shaft K, the gripper is caused to move outwardaway from the forging or pointing machinery and when it reaches theoutward extremity of its stroke the cutters g, g', strike andimmediately rise again out of the way of the rod, and as they replace.

hand and when the gripper opens he pushes the rod through the open jawsand against the gage V. The rod is instantly gripped, and, as the gagemoves away is carried for ward to the forging or, pointing machinery, tohave its end pointed or reduced to the required form and when this hasbeen done the gripper moves back again as before described and placesthe rod in a suitable position to have the nail cut off by the stroke ofthe cutter which, immediately after, takes The gage is then againplacedin range with the grippers and the jaws open to permit the attendant topush forward the rod again ready to be carried forward again by thegrippers to forge or point another nail; and this is repeated, thegripper liever letting go of the rod except at the front extremity ofits stroke and the attendant retaining his hold of the rod, untilthemetal becomes too cold to be Worked, when on the opening of thegrippers the rod iS drawn out and exchanged for another. The nails whencut from the rod slide down the inclined plane m, (Figs. 2 and 3) anddrop through a hole n, in the framing.

The mode of applying and operating the gage and cutters is capable ofmodification, without departing from the principle of my invention, asfor instance, one or both may be made to revolve in a planeperpendicular to and intersecting a line from the gripper to thepointing apparatus, and perform respectively the functions of cuttingand gaging at the moment of crossing that line, operating, of course inthe same order of succession with respect to each other and to thegripper as above described. The construction of the gripper andmechanism for operating it is also susceptible of modification.

I do not claim generally the use in nail or spike machines, for feedingand gaging the rod and cutting off the nails or spikes of automaticgrippers, gages or cutters, or the combination of such automaticcontrivances; but

.What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is*

l. A gripper having a reciprocating movement toward and from forging orpointing machinery, and opening automatically at the outer extremity ofits stroke so as to allow the introduction, feeding for- Y at. I

Ward or removal of the rod While it is in gage and a cutter or cuttersoperating in this position, but holding the rod fast at the Withindescribed order of succession with every other stage of its operationand While respect to each other and to the gripper.

l in any other position substantially as herein DANIEL DODGEa 5described. VitneSses:

i' 2. And in combination With a so operat- M. M. LIVINGSTON,

ing gripper, I claim the employment of a MICH. HUGHES.

